Charge control system, charge control apparatus, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A charge control system includes a charging apparatus including a first processor configured to cause the charging apparatus to store electric power to be supplied to a preset region, and a charge control apparatus including a second processor configured to calculate a charge amount of the charging apparatus and perform charging control for the charging apparatus based on the calculated charge amount, wherein when calculating the charge amount, the second processor calculates a charge amount to be larger in a case where the engine driving prohibited zone is set in the region than a charge amount in a case where the engine driving prohibited zone is not set in the region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application claims priority to and incorporates by referencethe entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-188687 filedin Japan on Nov. 12, 2020.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a charge control system, a chargecontrol apparatus, and a recording medium.

In a smart city, a technique for supplying electric power stored in acharging apparatus in advance to a facility group arranged in the cityis known (for example, see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.2013-069084).

SUMMARY

There is a need for providing a charge control system, a charge controlapparatus, and a recording medium storing a charge control programcapable of suppressing, in advance, electric power shortage due to ageofencing zone set in a smart city.

According to an embodiment, a charge control system includes: a chargingapparatus including a first processor configured to cause the chargingapparatus to store electric power to be supplied to a preset region; anda charge control apparatus including a second processor configured tocalculate a charge amount of the charging apparatus and perform chargingcontrol for the charging apparatus based on the calculated chargeamount. Further, when calculating the charge amount, the secondprocessor calculates the charge amount in a manner that the chargeamount, which is calculated in a case where an engine driving prohibitedzone where engine driving is prohibited is set in the region, is greaterthan the charge amount in a case where the engine driving prohibitedzone is not set in the region.

According to an embodiment, a charge control apparatus includes aprocessor configured to calculate a charge amount of a chargingapparatus that stores electric power to be supplied to a preset region,and perform charging control for the charging apparatus based on thecalculated charge amount. Further, when calculating the charge amount,the processor calculates the charge amount in a manner that the chargeamount, which is calculated in a case where an engine driving prohibitedzone where engine driving is prohibited is set in the region, is greaterthan the charge amount in a case where the engine driving prohibitedzone is not set in the region.

According to an embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium stores a charge control program that causes a processor to:calculate a charge amount of a charging apparatus that stores electricpower to be supplied to a preset region; perform charging control forthe charging apparatus based on the calculated charge amount; and whencalculating the charge amount, the processor calculates the chargeamount in a manner that the charge amount, which is calculated in a casewhere an engine driving prohibited zone where engine driving isprohibited is set in the region, is greater than the charge amount in acase where the engine driving prohibited zone is not set in the region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of each component of acharge control system according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a charge control methodperformed by the charge control system according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When a zone where driving of an engine of a vehicle is prohibited(exhaust gas control zone, hereinafter referred to as “geofencing zone”)is set in a smart city, a demand for charging vehicles in the smart cityincreases. Therefore, there has been a demand for a technique capable ofsuppressing, in advance, electric power shortage due to a geofencingzone set in a smart city.

A charge control system, a charge control apparatus, and a chargecontrol program according to an embodiment of the present disclosurewill be described with reference to the drawings. The components in thefollowing embodiment include those that can be easily replaced by thoseskilled in the art, or those that are substantially the same.

Charge Control System A charge control system including a charge controlapparatus according to the embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 1. The charge control system is for performing charge controlfor a charging apparatus that supplies electric power to a presetregion. The “preset region” is a region where a large number of userslive or what a large number of users use, and examples thereof include asmart city, a theme park, a leisure land, and the like. In the presentembodiment, a description will be given assuming that this region is asmart city.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a geofencing zone (enginedriving prohibited zone) is to be set in the smart city. Geofencingrefers to a mechanism in which a virtual fence (geofence) is set arounda specific zone and driving of an engine of a vehicle is prohibited inthe zone (geofencing zone).

In the geofencing zone, vehicles can only travel in the electric vehicle(EV) mode, and if an engine is driven, a predetermined penalty isimposed. This penalty is determined by, for example, laws andregulations of local governments or the like. Examples of the penaltyinclude payment of a tax or a fine, a running limit or a runningprohibition in the geofencing zone, and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a charge control system 1 includes a chargecontrol apparatus 10, a geofencing device 20, a plurality of chargingapparatuses 30, and a plurality of vehicles 40. The charge controlapparatus 10, the geofencing device 20, the charging apparatuses 30, andthe vehicles 40 all have a communication function, and are configured tobe able to communicate with each other through a network NW. The networkNW includes, for example, the Internet line network, a mobile phone linenetwork, and the like.

Charge Control Apparatus

The charge control apparatus 10 is provided inside the smart city oroutside the smart city. This charge control apparatus 10 is implementedby, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or apersonal computer, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the charge control apparatus 10 includes acontrol unit 11, a communication unit 12, and a storage 13.Specifically, the control unit 11 includes a processor including acentral processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), or afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a memory (main storage)including a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), or thelike.

The control unit 11 loads a program stored in the storage 13 into thework area of the main storage, executes the program, and controls eachof the components and the like through the execution of the program toimplement functions that meet a predetermined purpose. The control unit11 functions as a charge amount calculation unit 111 and a chargecontrol unit 112 through execution of a program stored in the storage13.

The charge amount calculation unit 111 calculates charge amounts of thecharging apparatuses 30. The charge amount calculation unit 111 firstacquires fence information from a fence information providing unit 211of the geofencing device 20. The fence information is informationrelated to a geofencing zone to be set in the smart city, and is storedin a storage 23, for example. Furthermore, examples of the fenceinformation include a zone around which the geofencing zone is to be setin the smart city, a time during which the geofencing zone is to be set(setting start time and setting end time), and the like.

When calculating the charge amounts of the charging apparatuses 30, thecharge amount calculation unit 111 calculates the charge amounts to belarger in a case where the geofencing zone is set in the smart city thanthe charge amounts in a case where the geofencing zone is not set in thesmart city. When the geofencing zone is set in the smart city, a demandfor charging the vehicles 40 increases. However, by thus increasing thecharge amounts in advance, it is possible to suppress electric powershortage in advance.

A specific increase amount of the charge amounts in a case where thegeofencing zone is set in the smart city can be determined in variousmethods. For example, a method of increasing the charge amounts by apredetermined amount that has been determined based on a past case, amethod of determining the increase amount based on traffic volume datasuch as the number, travel distances, travel areas, and travel timelengths of the vehicles 40 traveling in the smart city during the timewhen the geofencing zone is set, a method of acquiring information aboutremaining electric power (hereinafter, “state of charge (SOC)information”) from each vehicle 40 via the network NW and determiningthe increase amount based on the SOC information or the like can beused.

Furthermore, in a case where the geofencing zone is to be set only in aspecific zone in the smart city, the charge amount calculation unit 111may calculate only a charge amount to be assigned to the zone to belarger. In this case, the charge amount calculation unit 111 calculatesthe charge amounts of the charging apparatuses 30 for each of aplurality of zones to be set in the smart city. That is, the chargeamount calculation unit 111 calculates the charge amount expected to beconsumed in each of a plurality of zones to be set in the smart city.

Then, when calculating the charge amount, the charge amount calculationunit 111 calculates the charge amount of a zone where a geofencing zoneis set to be larger than the charge amount of a zone where a geofencingzone is not set. As described above, in the smart city, by making onlythe charge amount of the zone where the geofencing zone is to be setlarger than the charge amount of other zones, it is possible to respondto the demand for charging that increases in the zone where thegeofencing zone is set in a pinpoint manner.

The charge control unit 112 performs charge control for the chargingapparatuses 30 based on the charge amounts calculated by the chargeamount calculation unit 111. A specific method of the charge control bythe charge control unit 112 is not particularly limited, and forexample, the charge amount calculation unit 111 may perform the chargecontrol by transmitting a command to set the charge amounts at the timeor in the future to be larger or smaller to the charging apparatuses 30based on the charge amounts calculated at predetermined periods.

The communication unit 12 includes, for example, a local area network(LAN) interface board, a wireless communication circuit for wirelesscommunication, and the like. The communication unit 12 is connected tothe network NW such as the Internet, which is a public communicationnetwork. The communication unit 12 communicates with the geofencingdevice 20, the charging apparatuses 30, and the vehicles 40 byconnecting to the network NW.

The storage 13 includes a recording medium such as an erasableprogrammable ROM (EPROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), and a removablemedium. Examples of the removable medium include a disc recording mediumsuch as a universal serial bus (USB) memory, a compact disc (CD), adigital versatile disc (DVD), and a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc(BD). The storage 13 can store an operating system (OS), variousprograms, various tables, various databases, and the like. In addition,for example, the fence information acquired from the fence informationproviding unit 211, the charge amounts of the charging apparatuses 30calculated by the charge amount calculation unit 111, and the like arestored in the storage 13 as necessary.

Geofencing Device

The geofencing device 20 is a device for performing processing relatedto geofencing, and is provided inside or outside the smart city. Thisgeofencing device 20 is implemented by, for example, a general-purposecomputer such as a workstation or a personal computer.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the geofencing device 20 includes a controlunit 21, a communication unit 22, and a storage 23. The control unit 21functions as the fence information providing unit 211 and a fencedetermination unit 212 through execution of a program stored in thestorage 23. The communication unit 22 communicates with the chargecontrol apparatus 10, the charging apparatuses 30, and the vehicles 40by connecting to the network NW. Furthermore, in the storage 13, forexample, fence information and the like are stored as necessary.

The fence information providing unit 211 transmits the fence informationstored in the storage 23 to the charge control apparatus 10. Before ageofencing zone is set in the smart city, the fence informationproviding unit 211 transmits fence information including a zone aroundwhich the geofencing zone is to be set, a time during which thegeofencing zone is to be set (setting start time and setting end time),and the like to the charge control apparatus 10.

The fence determination unit 212 determines whether the vehicles 40 haveentered the geofencing zone. The fence determination unit 212 collectspieces of position information (hereinafter, referred to as “vehicleposition information”) of the vehicles 40 from the vehicles 40 via thenetwork NW. Subsequently, the fence determination unit 212 determineswhether the vehicles 40 have entered the geofencing zone based on thevehicle position information and the fence information stored in thestorage 23. Then, the fence determination unit 212 outputs informationregarding whether the vehicles 40 have entered the geofencing zone(hereinafter, referred to as “fence determination information”) to thevehicles 40 through the network NW. Note that when the vehicles 40 enterthe geofencing zone and when the vehicles 40 exit the geofencing zone,the fence determination unit 212 transmits fence determinationinformation to that effect to the vehicles 40.

Charging Apparatus

The charging apparatuses 30 are for storing electric power to besupplied to the smart city, and are provided inside or outside the smartcity. These charging apparatuses 30 each are implemented by, forexample, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personalcomputer. In addition, the charging apparatuses 30 each incorporate abattery for storing electric power, a control mechanism for controllingcharging and discharging of electric power, and the like. In addition,the charging apparatuses 30 transmit charging information regarding thecharging apparatuses 30 at the time to the charge control apparatus 10sequentially or at predetermined periods.

Vehicle

The vehicles 40 are moving bodies that travel inside and outside thesmart city. The vehicles 40 include, for example, an electric vehicle, aplug-in hybrid vehicle, and the like, and are charged at a chargingstand (contact charging stand or a non-contact charging stand) installedin the smart city. The vehicles 40 acquire fence determinationinformation from the geofencing device 20 when the vehicles themselvesenter the geofencing zone and when the vehicles themselves exit thegeofencing zone. In addition, the vehicles 40 acquire vehicle positioninformation through in-vehicle devices or the like having a GPSreceiving function, and transmit the acquired vehicle positioninformation to the geofencing device 20 sequentially or at predeterminedperiods.

Charge Control Method

An example of a processing procedure of the charge control methodperformed by the charge control system 1 according to the embodimentwill be described with reference to FIG. 2.

First, the charging apparatuses 30 transmit charging information to thecharge control apparatus 10 (step S1). Subsequently, the fenceinformation providing unit 211 of the geofencing device 20 transmits thefence information to the charge control apparatus 10 (step S2). Notethat the order of steps S1 and S2 may be reversed.

Subsequently, the charge amount calculation unit 111 of the chargecontrol apparatus 10 determines whether the geofencing zone is set inthe smart city based on the fence information (step S3). When the chargeamount calculation unit 111 determines that the geofencing zone is setin the smart city (Yes in step S3), the charge amount calculation unit111 calculates the charge amounts to be a first charge amount (step S4).Subsequently, the charge control unit 112 performs charge control forthe charging apparatuses 30 based on the calculated charge amounts (stepS5).

When it is determined in step S3 that the geofencing zone is not set inthe smart city (No in step S3), the charge amount calculation unit 111calculates a second charge amount smaller than the first charge amount(step S6), and the processing proceeds to step S5. Thus, the processingof the charge control method is completed.

As described above, according to the charge control system, the chargecontrol apparatus, and the charge control program according to theembodiment, it is possible to suppress electric power shortage inadvance in a case where the geofencing zone is set in the smart city.

That is, in a case where the geofencing zone is set in the smart city,the demand for charging the vehicles 40 increases, and thus, there is apossibility that the electric power supplied to other facilities andfacility groups in the smart city becomes insufficient. On the otherhand, according to the charge control system, the charge controlapparatus, and the charge control program according to the embodiment,the charging control for the charging apparatuses 30 is performed suchthat the charge amounts are larger in a case where the geofencing zoneis set in the smart city than the charge amounts in a case where thegeofencing zone is not set in the smart city. Therefore, electric powershortage does not occur at the time when the geofencing zone is set.

Furthermore, according to the charge control system, the charge controlapparatus, and the charge control program according to the embodiment,the charge control is performed such that more electric power thanconsumed is not stored in the charging apparatuses 30. Thus, waste ofelectric power and deterioration of the battery can be suppressed.

According to the present disclosure, electric power shortage when ageofencing zone is set in a smart city can be suppressed in advance.

Although the disclosure has been described with respect to specificembodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein setforth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A charge control system comprising: a chargingapparatus including a first processor configured to cause the chargingapparatus to store electric power to be supplied to a preset region; anda charge control apparatus including a second processor configured tocalculate a charge amount of the charging apparatus and perform chargingcontrol for the charging apparatus based on the calculated chargeamount, wherein when calculating the charge amount, the second processorcalculates the charge amount in a manner that the charge amount, whichis calculated in a case where an engine driving prohibited zone whereengine driving is prohibited is set in the region, is greater than thecharge amount in a case where the engine driving prohibited zone is notset in the region.
 2. The charge control system according to claim 1,wherein the second processor calculates the charge amount for each of aplurality of zones to be set in the region, and when calculating thecharge amounts, calculates a charge amount in a zone where the enginedriving prohibited zone is set to be larger than a charge amount in azone where the engine driving prohibited zone is not set.
 3. A chargecontrol apparatus comprising a processor configured to calculate acharge amount of a charging apparatus that stores electric power to besupplied to a preset region, and perform charging control for thecharging apparatus based on the calculated charge amount, wherein whencalculating the charge amount, the processor calculates the chargeamount in a manner that the charge amount, which is calculated in a casewhere an engine driving prohibited zone where engine driving isprohibited is set in the region, is greater than the charge amount in acase where the engine driving prohibited zone is not set in the region.4. The charge control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein theprocessor calculates the charge amount for each of a plurality of zonesto be set in the region, and when calculating the charge amounts,calculates a charge amount in a zone where the engine driving prohibitedzone is set to be larger than a charge amount in a zone where the enginedriving prohibited zone is not set.
 5. A non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium storing a charge control program thatcauses a processor to: calculate a charge amount of a charging apparatusthat stores electric power to be supplied to a preset region; performcharging control for the charging apparatus based on the calculatedcharge amount; and when calculating the charge amount, the processorcalculates the charge amount in a manner that the charge amount, whichis calculated in a case where an engine driving prohibited zone whereengine driving is prohibited is set in the region, is greater than thecharge amount in a case where the engine driving prohibited zone is notset in the region.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium storing the charge control program according to claim 5 thatcauses the processor to: calculate the charge amount for each of aplurality of zones to be set in the region; and when calculating thecharge amounts, calculate a charge amount in a zone where the enginedriving prohibited zone is set to be larger than a charge amount in azone where the engine driving prohibited zone is not set.